Rebuilding the relationship between the Police and the Communities that they serve one voice at a time.

Ottawa County, Mi. Sheriff’s Deputy Scott Dyke Pays it forward to family has lasting impression

January 9, 2016 Ottawa, Mi. Westley White his wife and two children were having a very bad day. Still grieving over the loss of a child the couple was running very low on money. They had run out of fuel for their car and were stranded. With no one to turn to they called the police. As it turned out the couple were on their way to a pawn shop to try and pawn off some items to get gasoline for their car when Deputy Scott Dyke responded to their call for assistance.

He explained to the couple that he was not able to transport them where they needed to go but that he was really only able to make sure that they were safe and secure when he saw the items that they were going to pawn to get gas money.

According to White “He seen the stuff in the car that we were going to pawn, he had a change of heart, I guess.” he told WNCN news. The Deputy did in fact take them to a gas station after all and paid for the couple to get a tank of gas out of his own pocket as well. That had a changing impact on White.

“Being black and African American, there’s been a lot of stuff going on, like very bad and … you hear about the stuff and you kind of stereotype cops because you only see the bad they do,” he said. His interaction with Deputy Dyke changed that. “A lot of people don’t see the good things that cops do,” White said.

White admitted that he was among those that had an unfavorable view of police officers from media stories he had seen but contacted the local news station and wanted to make sure that they aired the story because his view had changed. White wanted to make sure that people saw what he had experienced so he took a video of the Deputy and himself thanking the Deputy for what he had done.

“A lot of people don’t see the good things that cops do,” White said.

Stunned by Dyke’s actions, he recorded it.

“Thank you officer and I appreciate it and I thank you,” White said in the video.

“You’re welcome,” a somewhat bashful Dyke responded. “You have a good day.”